Impressive Tsitsipas to face Khachanov in Australian Open semis

MELBOURNE: Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the Australian Open semi-finals for the fourth time as the Greek saw off rising Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-3 7-6(2) 6-4 on Tuesday.

The third seed dominated the opening set after breaking a nervy Lehecka early on but was pushed hard after that against the 21-year-old, who has enjoyed a breakout tournament.

Lehecka, who had never won a Grand Slam match before arriving in Melbourne, used his powerful baseline game to stay with Tsitsipas in the second set, but the Greek raised his game to ease through the tiebreak.

Tsitsipas was forced to save three successive break points at 3-3 in the third set as Lehecka threatened to extend the Rod Laver Arena clash.

The 24-year-old then pounced with Lehecka serving at 4-5, reaching match point with a searing backhand pass and wrapping up the victory as his opponent netted a backhand.

Tsitsipas will face Russian Karen Khachanov in the semi-final when he will again enjoy strong support from the many Greek-origin fans in Melbourne.

Karen Khachanov reached the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time after Sebastian Korda retired injured while trailing 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-0, dashing the American's hopes of emulating his father Petr's 1998 Melbourne Park triumph.

Korda, the 29th seed, struggled with a right wrist issue that needed treatment twice during the match on Rod Laver Arena before throwing in the towel in the third set.

Khachanov had also reached the last four of the 2022 US Open and said it felt great to be back in a Grand Slam semi-final.

"I can say it was a fair dinkum type of performance," Tsitsipas said on the court. "It felt different this time from the other time we played, but I found a solution.

"I had to deal with groundstrokes, that were coming at me heavily and deep. I put my heart out there."

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